Lost Tears le remake
by Tsuyunoinochi Koukyo
Summary: This is the remake of a previously posted story of mine, Lost Tears. When Squall is forced to go off to a mission in Dollet, what will Rinoa do when it fails? Complete!


_**Lost Tears le Remake**_

I smiled to myself on the balcony, the occurrence of my first kiss with Squall. I wondered when he would be back from Dollet, when he would come back to me, to our home.

_Squall… _I felt lonely, incomplete without him here. And the others were gone too…all at Dollet. Except Irvine, since he was not a SeeD. He was here, in Balamb Garden with me, but he was busy taking his SeeD examination and he had no time to talk to me. He tried his best to keep me company, but sometimes he had other missions to go on and he had to leave me by myself.

After a week passed with no news of Squall and the others, I became depressed. A few people were coming back from Dollet, seriously wounded. One of them, Adam Festavio, was a SeeD. He was critically wounded, and I was asked to watch over him, make sure he didn't fall into the jaws of death. Over the course of two weeks, he and I became friends, good friends.

Adam was a handsome 16 year old with longish hair styled in a unique way-when he had first come to Garden, he had long waist length black hair, but upon entering Garden he was required to cut it. So he cut his bangs off, tied the back in a ponytail, and sliced the top of his hair up, creating layers and layers of hair. His bangs had grown back out since then, but he kept them short, not going past his eye vision. Despite the completely uneven cut he donned, he still looked handsome for some reason…perhaps it was his deep blue eyes. If he so much as looked at me, I could sense how he felt, how he wanted to feel. Those blue eyes burned a hole in my heart, leaving it filled with thoughts of him. I knew the feeling he gave me…it was the same feeling Squall gave me. That feeling of completeness, that feeling of being whole.

He told me about the battle, how Squall was a famous leader and how he knew the Dollet Battle would end soon, how Squall would save lives once more. He also told me how he got wounded and how he saw friends and companions die…but at the same time he was quiet. He didn't like talking about the war; in fact it made him depressed, like it would anyone. I had seen people die, I had experienced death before, but I never truly knew those people. They died and I was sad, but I didn't know them too well, they were just acquaintances. Adam seemed to really know these people who were dying left and right, and of course he mourned them properly, not talking about the battles as much as he could to avoid thinking about them, to avoid the tears glazing over his eyes.

Four weeks after Adam came back to Garden, the Dollet battle was over, and the rebelling Galabedians had retaliated. Squall was coming back! And from what I heard, Balamb Garden's casualties were minimal, only losing 30 out of 300 students. Near the end of the battle, it was used as a SeeD field test, and Irvine had gone. He told me that there were a lot more than 30 Garden members dead on the ground there than was said. I wondered if he was right, but I didn't want to question Garden's motives. Perhaps saying there were merely 30 students dead was a way of soothing those that knew the dead people.

The day Squall came back to me was a beautiful day. The sun shone pleasantly, birds chirped, and the world was in party mode. It was as if nature knew to cheer for Garden's victory. And also for my personal victory.

"Squall is here!" A voice announced over the intercom. I was in class at the time, and we all ran out to greet out hero. Since he had saved time from the evil sorceress Ultimicia, he was in the papers all the time. He was a celebrity now, walking through any town in the world with praisers at his heels. He wasn't too happy with his sudden popularity, but I assured him that his private life wouldn't be interrupted, that he could still be the same person, though that kiss on the balcony proved otherwise and he knew it.

"Squall!" Reporters from Balamb shoved themselves in his face, asking all sorts of annoying and pointless questions. He ignored most of them except for a few critical ones, like the situation of the Garden and how long the victory took.

After answering questions, Squall came over to me, kissing my cheek despite the swarm of camera flashes behind him. I smiled at him, surprised by his boldness. He led me to the Infirmary, where he was supposed to be checked over for wounds. I patiently waited at Dr. Kadowaki's desk, playing a few games of Triple Triad with Selphie (who had came in after us with Irvine in tow). The sharpshooter watched us with awe, as his knowledge of the card game was small.

After a half hour, Squall came out and we proceeded, arm around the other's waist, to the Cafeteria. And I knew that he was content with himself, that the shell had gone away.

The next few weeks were the best I'd ever experienced. I introduced Squall to Adam (who was now able to stand, run, and train again) and the three of us went for lunch in Balamb, to a play in Deling City, shopping in Esthar. It turned out Squall and Adam got along very well, almost too well. I was enthralled to have introduced them in the first place, enthralled to know that I had given Squall a new friend. They trained together now, as Adam was a rather experienced fighter, specializing in Twin Blades. Squall actually got a run for his money, as Adam was shorter and lighter than he was and could duck between something or get somewhere faster than Squall could with his heavy weapon. Adam taught Squall how to be more agile, and Squall in turn taught Adam to be stronger, as his light hits couldn't one-hit kill too often while one slice from Squall's gunblade brought practically anything down.

Four weeks after Squall had come back, news arose that the Galabedians had come back to Dollet. Squall sent 30 SeeD's over, figuring they would do the job easily; the Galabedians hadn't much troops left. But unfortunately for us…the Galabedians had found some more troops, hundreds more, and they were getting ready to attack Balamb Garden for interfering. Squall quickly prepared Balamb Garden for attack, and we all prepared for the best.

"They're coming!" Nida's voice screamed over the intercom one Wednesday after the Galabedians had threatened to attack us. We all quickly sprinted out of our beds, preparing for battle. Squall had warned Adam and I to stay out of the battle, for Adam was not yet fully capable of fighting in this battle and Squall didn't want me to get hurt. I appreciated his concern, but I could handle myself. Still, I stayed with Adam and the underclassmen-Squall had given Adam and I that job-in the depths of the Balamb Garden Cafeteria storage room, where we would have food to keep us alive and safety from the attackers.

Fourteen full days passed before the Galabedians retreated from Garden, but the war in Dollet still raged on, and with us having been held back here…there was no way Dollet could hold on much longer if we didn't get over there fast.

"Squall…you've got to do something!" Quistis pressed. Squall sighed helplessly.

"What if Galabedia decides to attack Garden again but we've sent all of our troops to Dollet?" He asked her, pressing his hand to his forehead.

"Well…send 300 to each facility. Keep 300 here and send 300 there. We won last time with 300, didn't we?"

"Yes, but we lost 150 of those 300, and now that Galabedians have more than last time.... How many students that are able to fight are in the Garden total?"

"About…" Xu looked at a piece of paper she was holding. "800. 300 of those are SeeD's."

"So we can keep 150 SeeD's here and send 150 SeeD's off to Dollet. And the regular fighters…500 of them…250 in each area."

"Alright, should I order that over the intercom now?" Nida asked from his seat next to Xu. Squall looked at the ceiling.

"No, I wi-"

"Squall!" Irvine ran in the room. "Selphie's got important news for you, but she can't come here! Call her!" He commanded. Squall seemed a bit taken aback by the forcefulness of his friend, but he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Selphie's room number.

"Hello?" She sounded paranoid.

"Selphie-"

"Oh, Squall, I'm glad you called!"

"Selphie, what's going on-"

"Listen! I just heard from my friend at Trabia! She said that the Galabedians are recruiting more soldiers from Galabedia Garden! They're **really **mad, Squall! I suggest you get as many troops over to Dollet as soon as you can, because those Galabedian soldiers from their Garden…they want revenge on you for some reason! They might come over here soon, so keep forces here and hurry up and kill those guys over there!"

"What do they want with me?"

"I don't know! All I do know is that they aren't happy you interfered before, and they want you dead! So hurry, wipe them all out!"

"Selphie-"

"Oh Squall, my friend from Trabia is calling me back! I'll give Xu the information when my friend gives me more!" Selphie hung up quickly, and Squall looked up at Nida. Selphie's frantic screaming had echoed across the room, and now Xu, Quistis, and Nida all knew what the brunette had said.

"I suggest what Selphie did-we should get on this matter right away." Quistis said.

"I don't normally say this, but I think you should take a party over to Dollet, Squall. Show them whose boss." Nida said, frowning. "If you want, Xu and I can rule the Garden until you get back, take care of any Galabedians that decide to attack here."

"Alright…I will gather a three man party including myself and we will go to Dollet. When I go, I want you and Xu to form a plan of escape and a defense plan in case the scenario of attack ever does come up here. And I will take my cell phone with me in case Selphie calls with any more information on Galabedia's situation and I also want daily reports of Garden's wellness." Squall commanded, walking over to the lift, ready to talk on the intercom. Nida followed him, and as they went up, Squall nodded.

"Dismissed."

Squall did what he said he would-he left for Dollet, leaving Xu and Nida and me in charge of Balamb Garden's defense. He took Irvine, Quistis, Selphie, and Zell with him, promising to be back soon, although I could see the doubt in his eyes. He and I both knew that Dollet was getting even more forces from before. It was possible for Balamb Garden to survive this wave-but one more and we would all be dead. Squall knew this, and so he wanted to get rid of Dollet as a possible threat as soon as he could. If only he would have let me help…

Along with his regular team, Squall also took a special team of 16 Seed's, one of them Adam. I was terrified that this team would leave the Garden defenseless if Dollet did in fact gather troops and attack, but Squall assured me that he would send at least half of those 16 SeeD's he 'borrowed' if Dollet did not prove to be a challenge in battle.

Soon enough, Squall and his team were on the vessel to Dollet. I crossed my fingers and hoped for a safe return, but somehow I caught that final 'sayonara' look in Squall's stormy blue eyes and I knew that this mission would be Squall's last one. I only hoped that…I could change this.

A month passed with no news of Squall and his team. I grew worried, but the possibility of Dollet's still oncoming forces attacking Balamb and its Garden while I went to Dollet to search for my boyfriend and his team frightened me into staying put until word was received. Selphie's friend at Trabia continued to feed us information, but soon enough Trabia became involved in the war as well and was unable to give us information. More and more of Garden's SeeD's disappeared into battle, fewer and fewer of them coming out. Soon enough, Xu and Nida would be called to go, despite their station here at Garden. I worried for them, because from what little information soldiers were able to bring us, our situation with Dollet was worsening.

Then one day while I was in Squall's room, sitting on his bed and staring at the plain white ceiling, someone softly knocked on the door.

"Come in." I said softly. The door creaked open and Nida stepped in, his eyes on the ground.

"What is it? News about the battle?" I asked him, sitting up quickly. I didn't like that sad gleam in his eyes…

Oh please…don't let it be news about Squall's death…please… 

"Rinoa…one of the members of Squall's special team of SeeD's has been found-Tayvor. He was…impaled." Nida said, still not looking me in the eye.

"And…Squall? Was anyone else found?" I dared to ask. By the sigh that was just waiting to escape Nida's lips, I could see that something else was wrong. But did I want to hear it?

"No…no one else was found…"

_Then why are you here?_

"Rinoa, everyone is missing. Squall disappeared near the beginning of the battle, that's why we kept sending SeeD's out…we need to find him! If we don't, Balamb Garden will be…on its road of ruin. Selphie's friend from Trabia captured some of the Dollet soldiers that came to attack them. The ones that didn't die of dehydration told her that Dollet was planning to find Squall and kill him then come here to the Balamb continent and wipe it out!"

_No! I…I have to get over there! At least Squall is safe for now…if the soldiers say they need to find Squall first, then he is still alive! Please Squall, hold on for a bit longer…_

"I'm going." I said flatly, getting up and pushing past Nida to the doorway.

"What? Going where?" Nida asked.

"To Dollet." My voice shook unsteadily, my heart beating faster and faster with each tiny step I took.

"What?! But why?! It's too dangerous-!"

"Nida! I have to find him, okay?! I just…need to." I ran off, leaving Nida alone and staring after me just as Squall had at the SeeD's Graduation Ball.

Quickly, I packed my things and dashed from my room, not even bothering to lock the door; it wouldn't matter if my stuff was taken, as long as Squall was alive I didn't care.

_I can't fight alone! I won't fight alone! Squall…I need you! Stay alive…just stay hidden…until I get to you!_

I arrived at the Balamb Garden parking lot with a set of keys that I had borrowed from Dr. Kadowaki. Behind me came four Med Teams, A, B, C, and D. I had left the other two at Garden with Xu and Nida just in case Dollet managed to get into Balamb while I was gone. I had to hurry-they might have already invaded Balamb!

The Med Teams filled into cars, pushing themselves in as close as possible so that there would still be cars left over in case of emergency. Despite Squall's high status and needed council in battle, Balamb Garden was not allowed to show panic because their leader was gone, and all of the Garden's supplies were not to be used for his safety or because he commanded. There were other people in the Garden who might need the supplies, and they would have to be there in such a case.

The Garden cars arrived in Balamb city, thankfully looking peaceful and serene. I was glad, but I did not waste a second to celebrate. Immediately I headed for the Balamb port, the cars with the Med Teams in them behind me.

Soon, we were on our way to Dollet. I had requested a special tank, one that was impenetrable by bullets or swords. The Med Teams rode with me, but they said little. It was easy to tell by my tragic expression that I was hoping for Squall to be there when the ship's doors opened to let me and everyone else out. However, that would hardly be the case, I knew.

The first thing that I noticed about Dollet was the rubble. It was everywhere…and it could have easily been hiding a body. With that theory, I asked the Med Teams to search everywhere, and maybe they would find a body. Hopefully…it would still be alive.

Indeed, I was right. Hidden beneath that rubble was Umi, one of the 16 SeeD's Squall had brought along with him. A thick wooden pole had been shoved through his leg and there was a gash on his forehead, plus tiny wounds all over his chest. Immediately Med Team A rushed in and cared for those wounds they could take care of immediately, and then they carried him off to the ship, where they had made their headquarters. Orders were to wait until every member of Squall's missing team had been found and then drive the vessel back to Balamb Garden. Hopefully…all of the bodies were live ones. Especially Squall's.

_I…could never get over it if…Squall were to be dead. I would…kill myself if he were dead. I couldn't take it…being alone…fighting by myself alone from then on. Squall…_

As some members of Med Team A carried the barely breathing body of Umi away, I turned to the rest of the teams.

_This used to be Squall's job, taking care of others. How did he manage to do it when he could barely care for himself?_

They followed me down the dirt path, some of them around the edge of the group holding weapons in case some Dollet soldiers decided to surprise attack us.

Farther down the path I heard a groan from beneath a wall of bricks. A few members of Med Team D lifted up the wall, revealing Thesa from Med Team E, the team that Squall had taken with him. Thesa was bruised and battered with a nasty looking scar over her right eye, but other than that she seemed fine. Two members from Med Team A led her off towards the vessel.

Soon after Thesa came others, Darkness, Raechel, Ruby, and Swift, all in minimal condition. Then came three casualties, Velvet, Elena, and Jenifer. I didn't know any of them, but apparently quite a few of the Med Team C members did, so I let them cry, for I was going to require a lot of time with Squall. Hopefully that time would be spent talking and kissing, not mourning.

After the dead members were carried off, the rest of the Med Teams and I walked into a clearing. Some of the males in Med Team A were getting discouraged, saying that they were much too far into Dollet and were risking their lives to save Squall. I immediately shot back with icy fury that Squall was back there somewhere and we were going to find him. We were going to save our Garden, whether they liked it or not.

Renewed by the stinging tears that streaked off my face, they continued to follow me into another clearing where we ran into a battle.

"Miss Rinoa, look out!" A female called out. I turned around and was about to scream as a Dollet soldier began to bring his sword down on my head, but before he could do that, something hurt him and he fell to the ground. At the feet of the dead soldier I saw Kilnee, another one of the 16 SeeDs. He was clutching a sword in his heavily bloodied hand and breathing hard because of a large hole in the middle of his chest and several bullet wounds surrounding that. Next to Kilnee was the dead body of Delfia, her long silver blonde hair spread around her like a halo. Quickly some Med Team members gathered Kilnee and Delfia and took them to the vessel, where there were already so many casualties.

Another clearing, and there was Fire, crying a river. Next to her was Thunder laying beside her, his silver gray eyes reflecting the sky. He sat up quickly when he saw us, thinking we were Dollet soldiers. But his eyes landed on me and he set down his daggers.

"Rinoa?" He asked, standing up. Fire copied him, wiping the tears from her tanned face.

"Are either of you hurt?" I asked, surprised to see that neither of them had any cuts at all.

"No, we're fine." Thunder said with surprising calmness.

"I've been so scared!" Fire admitted, jumping into the arms of her boyfriend, on of the boys in Med Team D. He accepted her and said he was taking her back to the vessel.

"Are you going too, Thunder?" I asked the boy who reminded me of Squall. He was both quiet and mysterious, withdrawn but trustworthy. The only difference between him and Squall was their appearances. While Squall had longer caramel colored straight locks, Thunder had dark black curly locks with strikingly bright blonde streaks running throughout. It was also much shorter than Squall's hair, following the standard hair style rule and being cut close to his head, leaving only a single chunk longer in the front because it served as bangs.

"No…I'll go with you, Rinoa." Thunder said. The male with Fire nodded and the two started off. I worried what they would do if they were ambushed since the male didn't have a weapon, but I figured I would find out when the time came for Squall and Adam and me to leave Dollet.

"Med Teams B and D, come with me. C and A, go back to Balamb with the injured SeeD's. I will send a Med Team member to Garden every two and a half hours with news and/or a person we found. Once Renashly and Adam are found, Med Team D will remain with me until we find Squall and then we will all go back to Garden." I commanded as I sadly watched Fire and her boyfriend disappear around a bend. Then we set off for yet another clearing up ahead, where we found Renashly.

Where the Central Square had once been lay the torn up Renashly, brunette hair hacked to ribbons, black eye patch oozing blood, left thumb twisted backwards, and her leg bent up underneath her. She was carried off, but first she told Thunder where Adam and Squall were-in the Dollet Communication Tower. I immediately charged up the mountain, thanking Renashly silently. She had died after telling Thunder what she knew…

I was worried about the Tower, as I knew it would be easy to be spotted there and we could possibly be ambushed. But for fighting we had Thunder, who wasn't picked to go with Squall and fight for his looks. We were indeed attacked, and Thunder quickly finished every soldier off by himself, not even stopping for a breather. He had been under Squall's training for a while, so he was almost as good as the warrior himself.

In front of the tower we found Adam. He was lying in a puddle, the water almost covering his nose and mouth. His clothes and his hair were both soaked, but the latter was not wet from the water-when I pulled my hand away, it was crimson stained. I lifted Adam from the water, putting him onto dry ground. The Med Team B members ran over and began to pull off his shirt, looking for wounds. Right away, they were told of one. Right in the middle of his chest was an enormous gash, still spewing blood. A couple of girls unrolled gauze they'd had stashed in their pockets and they wrapped it around his body. Slowly Adam's blue eyes opened, gazing right at me, burning a hole though my body just like what had been done to his. I stiffened, not smiling, not frowning. Thunder saw the stunned look on my face and he glared at Adam, who didn't seem to feel any of the pain that was being caused from the huge gash in his chest.

However, Adam didn't gaze at me for much longer. He turned his head and coughed, blood spewing from his lungs. He moved his lips, trying to say something, but no sound was coming from his lips.

"We had better go, Rinoa. Squall is waiting." Thunder said. I nodded, turning to Adam and Med Team B once more.

"Take Adam back to the vessel quickly, and I want all of you to make it a priority that he is not harmed anymore than he is. Care for what wounds you can, then test his legs and see if he can walk." I commanded.

"No, Miss Rinoa. His left leg is broken." A girl with red hair looked up, her eyes looking frightened.

"Well then…take your best care of him. Make sure he doesn't die getting to the vessel, and then do your best to care for him on the way to Garden as well. There have been enough casualties…I don't want anymore, especially one of them being a best friend of mine."

"Yes ma'am, we will do our best." They saluted me and turned their full attention on the 16 year old in front of them who was gazing at me again…his eyes so piercing…

"You like him, don't you?" Thunder asked me as he followed me to the top of the Dollet Communication Tower.

"…As a friend, yes, I do." I replied, stepping onto the lift and letting others on with me. I was almost there…almost to Squall.

"You know I don't mean as a friend." Thunder said sneering. Despite being like Squall, he could be like Seifer too.

"I don't know what you mean, then." I tossed my hair back, almost jumping when I felt the lift move upward…toward my Squall.

"Yes you do. I mean you like him…like as more than a friend. Like a boyfriend." Thunder frowned, narrowing his eyes. "He likes you too, I can see it in his eyes."

"Thunder…be quiet. I do not like Adam in any way more than a good friend, and how dare you say I like him as more than that when I have a boyfriend who is awaiting me up here?" I was going to punch the haughty silver-eyed boy when the lift arrived at its destination and I forgot whatever I was going to say. Instead, I jumped off the lift and ran onto the roof, where I saw…nothing.

"Squall, where are you?!" I screamed to the air. No reply. "Squall!"

_(Rinoa…)_

"Squall! Tell me where you are!" I commanded, suddenly losing my hopes when I heard the deathly ice tone in his voice.

_(There's a boulder downstairs…outside of the Tower. Look there…)_

"Squall! Squall, where did you go?!" When I got no response, I ran past the Med Team D and Thunder, jumping onto the lift and going down immediately. "Catch up with me! I've got to find him!"

I arrived at the bottom and I took off, not even bothering to watch the lift go back up for my teammates. I ran outside, seeing the big puddle of blood that Adam had been lying in. I almost stopped and vomited, but then I saw the boulder-and all was forgotten except my love.

It was too heavy! I struggled and struggled to push the large boulder away, but it wouldn't budge. I would need help. And then help came in the form of Thunder. I motioned for him and he helped me move it a few inches, and then the entire Med Team D came running out and helped us the rest of the way. There was a cave underneath the boulder! Squall was in there and waiting for me! I ran down into the cave, not bothering to look for Dollet soldiers that could be down there-and so I went down. I never thought that someone would be waiting for me-when I felt a pain in my stomach. A sword. Someone had just shoved a sword into my stomach. I let out a loud cry and when I looked down, the sword wasn't a sword anymore. It was a gunblade.

The last thing I saw was Squall, pierced though the heart with his own gunblade that someone had taken from him. Tears fell from my eyes as I blacked out, not six feet from my boyfriend.

_Author's Notes: Alright…so this was a serious change from my other version of Lost Tears. Wow…I had no idea this was going to turn out like this! And darn, I was hoping to add another 500 words to this…oh well. It's still reasonably sized, don't you all think? So, which do you like better, this version or the first? Feedback is appreciated!_

_I also apologize for any mistakes I may have made with the POV-sometimes I get involved in a movie and then go back to typing but I forget what POV I'm doing...so I'm sorry, it may be a little messed up._


End file.
